Next Marauders
by potterpunintended
Summary: The fantastic Foursome at Hogwarts, who's idea was that?
1. Chapter 1

**Authours note: Reviews are greatly appreciated. This fanfic was made becasue I have had severe writers on my Dramione fic for about 2 months but I still wanted to write **

**Disclamer: I don't own Harry Potter or the fantastic foursome, if I did I would not be writing about them  
**

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

'_Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up in a moment. She looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage and the white rabbit was still in sight, hurting down it. There was not a moment to be lost. Away went Alice like the wind and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, "Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!" She was close behind it when she turned the corner. But the Rabbit-'_

"Get out of here girl!" Yelled the librarian, Madame Pince. The young, red haired girl lifted her head from the page and put the carried the book close to her chest as she exited the library, carrying the stories which she so longed to enter. She walked through the halls to her 6th year Potions class, ignoring the taunts from a group of 7th year Slytherins,

"Oy, ginger," yelled one of them. "What's that book you got there, nerd." She kept her head down as she past them clutching the book tightly. "I belong in fantasy worlds," she thought. "Not here."

**Dan's P.O.V**

Daniel Howell woke late, again. He forced himself out of bed and into the bathroom, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and sighed, his 'Hobbit Hair' running rampage. He dressed and dragged himself down the stairs to the common room, otherwise known as what he liked to call the torture room. Most of the Slytherins hated him, for no other reason than being the complete opposite of what Salazar Slytherin prized: they were mean, cunning and cruel, he was kind, a bit sarcastic and in his own mind, 'the human embodiment of Winnie the Pooh.' He grabbed an apple on his way out and walked to his first lesson; potions. Suddenly three dark haired figures swerved past him and bumped his shoulders, it was his best friends; Phil, PJ and Chris.

"Hey bud!" said Chris. "Another late morning?"

"Yeah," sighed Dan.

"Those Slytherins giving you trouble?" asked PJ, suddenly sounding worried

"No, well, apart from their comments, but I just shrug them off," replied Dan. Dan didn't want his friends to know that the Slytherins comments really did upset him, he didn't want them to worry that Dan wasn't as happy that he could be but also he didn't want them to know that they would be right. From a stranger's perspective Dan thought he would look big-headed but that was quite the opposite, he was insecure about himself in so many ways, fearing what others said behind his back and what some had the arrogance to say to his face. They soon arrived at potions and took their normal seats. PJ and Chris immediately started a conversation about which Pokémon really was the best but Phil stayed quiet. He usually joined in on conversations like these, arguing that Growlithe was the best because of its ability to spit fire.

"Are you okay?" Asked Dan "Yeah, I'm fine," replied Phil immediately entering conversation. Dan was daydreaming about asking Headmistress McGonagall about switching to another house when a beautiful, red-haired girl walked in the classroom. It was Clarisse, one of Phil's friends from Hufflepuff house, Phil waved to her as she sat down at the front of the class and she immediately opened her book, an old muggle copy of 'Alice's adventures in wonderland'. Dan had admired her for a few years now and he always noticed everything about her, the ink stains on her fingers, the way she turned the pages in her books, her iPod earphone hanging out of her bag and the almost unintelligible scrawl in her many notebooks she carried with her. But she had always loathed him, as told many times by none other than herself; she thought he was a twat, and apparently a toe-rag, whatever that was. The rest of potions dragged on uneventfully with Chris being a smart-ass and answering many of Professor Slughorn's questions sarcastically. Finally they escaped and went to sit by the lake for their free period. PJ went to magic in art and Dan saw Clarisse sit underneath a tree and instantly open her book again. He watched her eyes flick across the page as she read each word, he forced himself to tear his gaze away from her soft blue eyes and focus on the properties of the Sopophorous bean.

"So Dan, we saw you making goo-goo eyes at Miss Clarisse," said Chris, with an air of sophistication. "And?" Asked Dan, not looking up from his work.

"Well when are you going to ask her out?"

"Are you serious Chris? She'd never go out with me, she hates me," said Dan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authours Note: Sorry I took so long to update! I'm horrible at this. Anyway thanks to the people who reveiwed! Again they are gretly appreciated!**

**Phil's P.O.V**

Phil was not one to usually dwell on things but what Dan had said stuck with him for the rest of the day. It was common knowledge that Clarisse hated Dan and he had also suspected for a while that Dan had feelings for her, he didn't know what to do about that at this point though. He rose early the next morning and went to the Great Hall to find Clarisse sitting by herself at the Hufflepuff table reading another book; he went to sit across from her.

"Hey Phil," said Clarisse, she had an ability to somehow know who it was that approached her without looking.

"Hi, is that another new book?" Phil asked, astounded at how fast she read.

"Yep, and don't seem so surprised," she said, closing her book "This one's called '_The Lord of the Rings' _by J.R.R Tolkien."

"Oh yeah, I heard about the muggle movie that was made. Isn't it about hobbits?"

"Yes, and it's surprisingly accurate, I'm beginning to wonder whether Mr Tolkien was muggle or a wizard." Clarisse and Phil laughed.

"Well, we'll have to ask Madame Pince, won't we," said Phil sarcastically, which made the two of them laugh even harder. PJ and his girlfriend Lucy sat down in the midst of all the laughter, looking dumbfounded which just made Phil and Clarisse laugh harder again.

"What's all this then?" Asked PJ.

"Oh, nothing," said Clarisse, calming down."Except cracking jokes about nasty little hobbitses!" Phil and Clarisse started laughing **again**. Chris and Dan sat down then and suddenly the whole group was engulfed in silence.

"Um, I just remembered I left my transfiguration book in the common room. Um bye everyone," said Clarisse awkwardly as she quickly walked away.

"You're up early for a change, Dan," said PJ.

"Did you miss seeing our sweet faces in the morning?" Asked Chris.

"No, I just felt like getting up early," said Dan, staring into his cereal.

"Well then, claps for you," and he orchestrated a round of applause around the group.

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

'Phew,' thought Clarisse. 'That was awkward.' Of course she hadn't left her transfiguration book in the common room; she just had to get away from Dan. She didn't know why she hated him so much; maybe it was because of how arrogant or big-headed he was. And then she remembered all the things he used to say to her to get her to go out with him.

"Yep, I remember why I hate him," she muttered. She let her feet take her where she needed to go and ended up at the tree next to the black lake. She shrugged, sat down, opened her book and got lost in Tolkien's genius.

Later that day Clarisse was walking to the Hufflepuff common room when she overheard raised voices from the adjoining hallway. She poked her head around the corner of the wall and saw a terrible sight. Dan was pushed up against a wall and two Slytherins were harassing him. They called him things that Clarisse could not quite hear but made Dan's eyebrows raise, then the pushed him down to the ground and punched him. Dan's eyes caught hers and gave her an almost pleading look; she was confused at why Dan would look at her in such a way.

"Hey, what's she doing here?" Yelled one of the Slytherins. Clarisse quickly ran away.

**Dan's P.O.V**

Professor Longbottom soon came and stopped the fight, it was lucky because Dan was almost about to pass out, what was not so lucky was that Dan still got a week's worth of detention. Dan escaped from the Slytherin pair and wandered to the library, one of the only places he could be himself. He entered the library and sat down in one of the far corners. Looking around he noticed that there were no members of Slytherin house around, but Chris and PJ were there. Dan made sure he was out of their view; he didn't want to explain why he wasn't at the hospital wing when he had a black eye and probably a twisted ankle. He opened his Charms homework and tried to focus on the Aguamenti charm, but his mind kept returning to Clarisse and how she had looked at him when she saw the fight in the hallway. It was so full of hatred and disgust, but for the first time there was something else. Pity? No, more like confusion. But he couldn't understand why she would wonder why he looked at her for help, wouldn't anyone?

**Phil's P.O.V**

Later in the common room Phil was talking to Lucy, a friend of his, and he noticed a sad look on Clarisse's face as she stared into the fire. Her book was on her lap but she wasn't interested in it, only the orange flames in the fireplace. Lucy soon saw that Phil wasn't really listening to her and walked away from him. Phil got up and sat down in the chair across from Clarisse.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing," said Clarisse, tearing her eyes away from the fireplace.

"No, really Clarisse. You look sad," persisted Phil "What happened."

"Oh um, I got low marks on my transfiguration test,"

"Oh, okay," Phil believed she was lying to him but he didn't press the matter, she probably had a good reason from not telling him the truth.

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

Clarisse was lying through her teeth; she hated not telling the truth to Phil; her best and only true friend. She closed her book, said goodnight to Phil and went upstairs. No one was asleep yet and she was grateful for it, it meant she could read for as long as she wanted.

It got late very quickly and the other girls in her dorm soon came up to go to bed. Clarisse closed her book and pulled the curtains on her four poster bed shut as the girls entered the room, she pretended to be asleep. Soon she found her mind slowly drifting off to sleep.

Clarisse was in a fantasy land, running from a pair of grotesque looking creatures. As she ran colourful flowers with faces tried to stop her and shout foul names at her. The world changed and she was watching Dan being beaten up by the Slytherins again but his time her face was on each one of their heads. Dan gave her a pleading look again and then his face changed into one of the creatures from the last world. He leaped at her, making a horrible screeching noise, then she woke up. She found herself tangled in a mess of sheets, sweat dripping down her face. She opened the curtains to go to the bathroom, where she promptly threw up in the sink. Clarisse looked up into the mirror, 'you look horrible.' She thought to herself. She checked the time on a girl in her dorms alarm clock, 3:30. She got into her dressing gown and wandered down the stairs into the common room, sat down and once again watched the comforting amber flames of the fire. Until images of Dan and brightly coloured flowers took over her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Hey, sorry about the delayed update. It takes longer to write than you'd think. Anyhow, thanks to the people who reveiwed :) they are always welcome. Thanks**

**Dan's P.O.V**

Dan woke extremely early for him that morning. The sun poured through the window next to his bed, he pulled the curtains around his bed. 'Excellent,' he thought 'they're all still asleep.' He got out of bed and pulled on his coat to brave the cold morning. He wandered down to the edge of the lake and started skimming rocks along the water. Not focusing on anything except the rock he was throwing.

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

Clarisse didn't mean to find Dan at the lake, it just kind of happened. She was going to find a place which she could be herself in peace, and just sit and watch the fog over the water. She spotted him skimming rocks at another part of the lake; she watched the muscles in his arm tense as he threw – "No, shut up." She mumbled to herself "You hate him." Evidently, Dan had super-sonic hearing as he turned around when she scolded herself. Clarisse quickly turned around and stared at another point of the bank, trying to not catch his attention. Unfortunately, for Clarisse, Dan thought a chat to her was well worth the very short walk between them, and so he sat on a rock across from Clarisse.

"I'm sorry you had to see, um, what you did see in the corridor the other day," he mumbled.

"Whatever, It's not like it mattered," Clarisse regretted the words as soon as she had said them; this was not the time to get his temper flaring.

"Fine then, it's not like you need to have any friends anyway," shouted Dan, gathering quite a bit of attention from the onlookers above the bank. He stormed off and left Clarisse sitting dumbfounded on the rock.

**Phil's P.O.V**

Phil was frantically scribbling down his charms homework last minute; he was too busy failing to get in to the quidditch team to remember to do it. Clarisse was once again staring into the fire, Phil absentmindedly wondered if she was a pyromaniac.

"Has he ever mentioned anything wrong?" asked Clarisse, interrupting Phil from his thoughts.

"What, who?" said Phil.

"Dan of course," said Clarisse, turning to face Phil.

"What do you mean by anything wrong?"

"Well, I mean, it's probably nothing," she mumbled

"Tell me," said Phil

"I saw him being beaten up by a group of Slytherins," she admitted.

"No, he never mentioned anything like that,"

**Dan's P.O.V**

Dan was furious, he'd tried to apologize to Clarisse and she'd blown him off! He didn't even have to try to apologize to her; it wasn't his fault she walked in on it. He kicked the wall in frustration and then regretted it. He realised he was supposed to be in seventh period Herbology and he grabbed his things and walked there, he met Phil on the way.

"Hey Dan, um," mumbled Phil.

"Yeah?" asked Dan.

"Well, I was talking to Clarisse just then and she said that, um," stammered Phil

"Yeah?"

"She said she saw you in a fight with some Slytherins,"

"Oh, that,"

"Well, why didn't you tell me?" Asked Phil, now sounding disappointed

"I didn't want you to worry," said Dan. At that moment their teacher walked in and they started the lesson.

Later that day, Dan overheard a few Gryffindors nearby gossiping about Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son, 7th year Gryffindor. Apparently he had been pranked. Dan envied the person who had done it, had always wanted to prank that snob, thinking he was better than everyone because his father was the 'Chosen One'

Dan was sitting by the lake when it happened; he was going over his History of Magic essay when suddenly he heard loud footsteps coming toward him. And the last thing he saw was the face of a seventh year Gryffindor, Donald Prake, before he was knocked out.

He was awoken by a scuffling and raised voices nearby, he opened his eyes and saw he was in a dark, damp room and his hands and feet were bound with chain and a lock. He saw another figure in the corner of the room, someone with curly, fiery red hair; she looked like she was still knocked out. Suddenly a tall shadow descended upon him and he was sent into a deep sleep again.

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

Clarisse awoke to find her hands and feet bound and tape over her mouth. She remembered seeing a glimpse of Dan as he was brought into the room, she had made a lot of noise and had tried to resist her hands and feet being bound but her captors had managed to subdue her. 'What kind of a sick joke is this?' she thought, 'taking Dan and I and keeping us in here.' She couldn't see any light coming from outside but her watch told her that it was the next day. Across the room Dan was coming to, he groaned and lifted his head, looking around.

"Where are we?" Asked Dan. She tore the tape from her mouth.

"In the Shrieking Shack, I heard one of them mention it," she answered

"Why are we here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Clarisse. Dan started wiggling his hands behind him.

"What are you doing?" Asked Clarisse.

"Trying to get us out of here," he said.

Clarisse sighed, "You're going about it the wrong way. I have a couple of bobby pins in my hair,"

"And how is that going to help us? Are you going to throw them at our captors? Maybe we should find our wands,"

"Boys are so stupid," she muttered, as she lifted her hands and got out two bobby pins from her hair. "And by the way, if they had any common sense they would have hidden our wands, but then again, they are Gryffindors."

"That's rich coming from a Puff," joked Dan, "And one of my best friends is a Gryffindor."

"Oh shut up and let me get us out of here," She moved her hands around and got the end of the pin facing the lock she inserted it and twisted it around. There was a click and she gasped. She got the lock off the chain and slipped her hands out of the chain. Then she moved onto her feet.

"Where did you learn that?" asked Dan.

"Oh at school before Hogwarts it was all the rage to learn how to pick a lock, I've never forgotten it." Said Clarisse.

"Wow," said Dan, clearly impressed. She finished with her feet and begun to move over to Dan. Suddenly one of the Gryffindors came into the room but with his head turned Clarisse quickly shuffled back to the corner of the room and put the chain back over her hands and feet. All of the Gryffindors came into the room then.

"Ah, awake are we?" said one of them, who Clarisse recognised as Donald Prake "Have a nice sleep?" They both kept their heads down and looked away from his gaze.

"Well anyway, tonight you're going in to the Forbidden Forest," said another one from the group, "We know what you did to Potter, we're not sure how but we know you pranked him." Clarisse looked up startled, 'Albus Potter was pranked?' she thought 'and they think that we did it? They do have nothing between the ears.'

"So get some more rest, it's going to be a big night tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Authors Note: Sorry about taking so long to update! I was planning on doing camp NaNoWriMo but I completely forgot so thats why I haven't been uploading. Sorry.**

**Phil's P.O.V**

Phil knew something was up, both Dan and Clarisse had missed all of their afternoon classes and he hadn't seen either of them at dinner or breakfast. And while Dan was known to skip a few classes, Clarisse never missed one. Most of the people wrote it off to be a spontaneous moment of love, but Phil knew them better than they did.

"We have to go find them," said Phil to Chris, Peej and Lucy later that day.

"Okay, where do we start?" Asked Lucy, Phil didn't expect such enthusiasm from Lucy; after all, she barely knew Clarisse and Dan. It seemed like Chris and Peej didn't either, they both gave her a startled look. "What? I hate bullies!" she said.

"Okay then, we'll start by talking to an alright Slytherins," said Phil.

"There are alright Slytherins?" asked Peej.

"Only one, Scorpius Malfoy."

**PJ's P.O.V**

PJ thought Phil was crazy. Malfoy wasn't 'alright'; he was Draco Malfoy's son, Lucius Malfoy's grandson, you know, one of Voldemort's greatest supporters from 'back-in-the-day'. But Phil managed to see the good in everyone, even if that someone was a former death eater's grandson. So, they made a plan to get the answers out of Malfoy.

**Phil's P.O.V**

In their lunch break, which they knew that they shared with Scorpius, they found him sitting at the end of the Slytherin table, away from everyone else. He was sitting alone doing some homework, occasionally throwing jealous looks at the rest of the Slytherins, who were whispering and giving shifty looks to him. Phil had already conducted a plan of an interrogation in his head and had rehearsed it several times, he was still nervous though.

"Scorpius, do you know anything about-"

"No, I don't know what has happened to Howell and Hart, I noticed them missing, even though I'm not popular around here doesn't mean I don't pick up things." Scorpius snapped, interrupting Phil.

"Oh, okay. Do you know who might have an idea?" asked Phil, wearily.

"His name is Michael; he's a 7th year Ravenclaw. You'll find him outside the Ravenclaw common room in 5th period. He waits for anyone to consult him; he is the eyes and ears of Hogwarts."

"Okay, thanks," said Phil and Chris gave a small salute. PJ looked slightly shaken as they walked away from Scorpius.

"What's up Peej?" asked Chris. But PJ looked like he couldn't answer.

"It's Michael, he sometimes teases Peej for being, well, let's just say creative," explained Lucy, skimming over some of the details. PJ shook himself out of it and focused on his feet.

"I'll be fine," he said "let's just get it over with."

**Dan's P.O.V**

Dan had dozed in and out of sleep for most of the morning and each time he woke up enough to gather his surroundings Clarisse was still trying to escape. The Gryffindors had noticed that she had managed to undo the chains that bonded her hands together and had redone them with a spell that she could not undo with a simple bobby pin. Clarisse slept a lot that morning and Dan watched her, he couldn't help himself. He loved the way her hair fell over her face as she slept, and how the necklace on her neck moved each time she took a breath, he was completely and irrevocably in love with her, there was no denying it.

**Phil's P.O.V**

The gang found Michael just where Scorpius had said he would be, with Lucy and PJ leading them to the Ravenclaw tower. Michael was leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room with a smug look on his face. When he saw Peej his attention was focused on him and he taunted him.

"Hey Ligouri, made a booking into the Asylum yet?" he jeered.

"Shut it," interrupted Lucy "We just need to ask a few questions"

"I know why you're here, that Malfoy kid told me you would need to ask me some questions"

"Yeah well do you-" started Phil

"Yes, I do know some facts about the recent kidnapping," interrupted Micheal, smugly "There is a plot, for some new leadership at the school when the Potters have left, of course the people who are planning this wouldn't want anything to happen to their precious leader Potter. And considering he got pranked recently, I'm guessing that they're looking out for revenge,"

"Right, and could you tell us who 'they' are?" asked Chris, seeming irritated.

"It's a little fuzzy," said Michael. Chris, understanding what he meant, sighed and dug three galleons out of his pocket and gave them to Michael. He seemed to accept this because he continued speaking.

"I heard a group of Hufflepuff's speaking about it, but the name of them must have slipped my mind," he said, looking out of the window with a dreamy look. Chris sighed again and forked anther two gallons out of his pocket.

"John West's the guy you're looking for," he continued. "I have to go, my subjects are calling me," he tilted his head into the entrance to the common room where several Ravenclaw girls were waiting for him. They left without a backward glance at Michael, with Chris muttering about wasted galleons.

"He's so full of himself, isn't he," complained Chris "It's a wonder he isn't in Slytherin,"

"Yeah, well now we have to find John West," said Peej with an air of finality "Where would he be Phil?" Phil knew exactly where they would find John, but he didn't think that he had anything to do with the kidnapping, he was too timid and shy for that.

John West was exactly where Phil thought he would be, in the Hufflepuff common room. Phil entered ready for an interrogation.

"Hey John," he said as he sat down in a couch next to him.

"Oh, hi Phil," said John timidly, 'Yeah,' thought Phil 'This kid didn't take Dan and Clarisse'

"I was just wondering whether you could answer a few questions for me, a friend of ours says that he heard you speaking about some plot for new student leadership here? What was that about?" he asked.

"Oh, that," answered John, slightly more confident "I was only conveying rumours, I think I heard it from a Slytherin, but I can't remember their name, sorry Phil,"

"No, that's okay John, you've helped a lot," said Phil, leaving John in the common room.

**PJ's P.O.V**

PJ, Chris and Lucy had spent their Saturday afternoon sitting in an empty classroom waiting for Phil with news of John West. They had given half-hearted ideas to each other and had soon given up thinking about ways to find Dan and Clarisse. They heard a knock on the door and Phil came into the room.

"Well," said Chris "What have you found out?"

"It wasn't John," reported Phil, sitting in one of the chairs "He was only conveying a rumour."  
"Wait, I've got it," cheered Peej, jumping to his feet and pointing strait at Chris. Everyone in the room looked startled at PJ as he shouted, "Chris, get me some butchers paper!"

"What, why?" asked Chris, clearly not feeling up to it.

"Just do it," insisted PJ, Chris sighed and scuttled off to get some butchers paper.

Half an hour later, PJ had created an entire blackboard dedicated to the missing friends. He was very proud of it. It had details of their disappearance that connected Dan and Clarisse to other groups of people and information that was relevant to their problem. It was all connected with a single strand of red string, all leading to Dan and Clarisse. It was exactly like the muggle crime TV shows that PJ sometimes liked watching. As Peej surveyed the board however, there was something missing, he could tell. One single detail that he'd missed, but he wasn't sure what it was. He knew it had to be something important. The group had hit a dead end and walked to dinner feeling defeated. They'd interrogated many people but were still left with nothing.

"There's always tomorrow," said Peej hopefully. The rest of the group said nothing, they could see that the prospect of finding them soon was grim.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Short chapter today guys. Sorry, I have writers block *cries* I'll try and update a longer chapter soon.**

**Clarisse's P.O.V**

After sitting in a cold, damp room all day, Clarisse was feeling down. The two of them had spent the day drifting in and out of sleep and absentmindedly chatting. So that when one of their captors came into the room and announced that they would be going into the forest, Clarisse couldn't help being happy about leaving the shack. Although they were going into the forbidden forest, and that was full of strange and dangerous creatures.

They were being led into the dark forest, the shadows of the enormous trees looming over them in the evening sun. Clarisse could hear all sorts of growls coming from the forest and wondered what manner of creatures lived inside.

"Looks like a nice place to stay the night," mocked Donald Prake as he leaded them into the forest.

"You can't do this!" yelled Clarisse, struggling against her bonds.

"Uh, I think I can," sneered Prake. Him and the boy who was leading Dan led them deep inside the forest, adding in many twists and turns to their route so that they couldn't find their way out. They soon came to stop underneath a huge tree, left the pair of them with their ropes still bound around their hands and feet and started to walk back out of the forest.

"Have a nice night," Prake taunted as his accomplice laughed.

"Wait! Aren't you going to give us our wands?" shouted Clarisse. But all they could hear was laughter as they disappeared out of sight.

Clarisse was becoming very stressed, she was pacing back and forth in front of Dan, she was used to being in control of these sorts of situations.

"What are we going to do?" wailed Clarisse. "They just left us here, with no wands, water or food."

"Calm down Clarisse!" barked Dan. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad!" thundered Clarisse "How in the world could this be any worse?" And just at that moment, it started raining. Clarisse sighed at the obvious cliché.

"Great job," sighed Dan. "Haven't TV shows taught you anything?" Clarisse looked to the sky which was pelting down with raindrops and brought her jumper closer around her.

"There's no point in staying here," muttered Dan "We might as well find some shelter."

They soon found a rock of which they could sit under and be sheltered from the rain which was continually pelting down. Clarisse still found a way to stay away from Dan even though they were sitting very close together.

"Why do you insist on keeping away from me?" begged Dan suddenly. Clarisse was startled, she expected something like this to come around at some point but not so suddenly.

"I try to mend this void between us and you just break it every time I get close," he spoke. Clarisse stayed silent, it was one of those moments where she didn't know what to say.

"Never mind," Dan sighed, feeling jaded. "I'm going for a walk," he said, standing up.

"But it's pouring with rain," remarked Clarisse, suddenly feeling like she would be vulnerable without him. She scolded herself for feeling that, she didn't need him here in this cold, damp, creature infested, and dark forest.

"It's just a drizzle," spoke Dan, pulling up the hood on his jumper and walking away. Clarisse suddenly felt more alone, cold and vulnerable than she ever had before.


End file.
